Zac Brown Band’s “Idea of the Intention”

You could tell me the Zac Brown Band was going to be collaborating with Barry Manilow or Vanity 6, and I’d think that sounded like a pretty fabulous idea. The point it, whoever hitches their wagon to the Zac Brown Band is going to make music that sounds very much like the Zac Brown Band. And that’s a good thing.

So even though Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was far from country when he first met with Brown at the 2013 Grammy Awards, the music he eventually made with Brown turned out just right. Together they created a four-song EP The Grohl Sessions, Vol. 1, and the band’s Clay Cook sees more collaborations down the road.

“Vol. 1 is literally everything we recorded, but we liked the idea of adding to this at some point,” Cook told Billboard magazine.
“We don’t know what the future holds, but we like the idea, and Dave loves the idea of making more music, too. It’s as open-ended to us as it is to you, but Dave was cool with calling it Vol. 1. So maybe Vol. 2 comes in 30 years. We don’t know. But we love the idea of the intention to do more, that’s for sure.”

Cook also explained the conundrum of so many popular country acts these days — the timing of make a great album.

“We’ve got enough songs to make a record tomorrow, but people like to see us play live, too, so there’s no time to even get together and record between now and then,” he explained. “At some point, we have to find the time and the right situation. You don’t want to just go into the studio and try to bang it out as fast as you can. You want to make the best music you can possibly make.

“You don’t want to rush it. I think people can tell if you’re just trying to make money or if you really mean it.”